Manga

Manga either refers to Japanese comics (regardless of style), or to comics and/or cartoon drawings in what is perceived to be typical "Japanese/manga" style, regardless of their country of origin.

Manga are commonly in black-and-white, and are published as print publications. However a number of manga artists (called mangaka) also publish their work in digtal form on the World Wide Web, especially doujinshi (manga fan art). Individual manga drawings (that are not panels of a comic) are generally colorized. Traditionally, manga are written from right to left.

Manga comes in all kinds of styles, so it is impossible to describe what exactly makes manga different from western comics, as for every rule there are exceptions. Still, an attempt to come up with "typical features of manga style" might include:

oversized eyes

undersized noses (whereas in western comics, noses, especially of adult male characters, are often oversized)

dramatic changes in facial expression

preference for pretty, cute, slim, and young characters

manga erotica is more common than erotica in western comics

a liking for casual/innocent nudity even in non-adult manga (see fan service)

"fantasy" costumes and themes

long and/or "spikey" hair, often in fancy colors in colored manga and anime

Sub-genres

Manga (and anime) come in a great variety of sub-genres, which are known by Japanese terms, such as: